Mr. Nice

What an extraordinary fellow Howard Marks is. His autobiography takes him from his South Wales childhood and Oxford University education through his life dealing marijuana and the enormous mythology that accrued around what the tabloids called "the English Toff Drugs King of the World". This book is called Mr Nice after one of the many aliases Marks's life as a merchant of pot obliged him to assume, but it describes him perfectly too: the epitome of British niceness, the nicest international criminal you could hope to meet. It's not hard to see why this has become a cult book--Marks is a brilliant version of a mate down the pub, telling you the gobsmacking stories of his many adventured life. The writing is direct and the narrative will detain you as comprehensively as Marks himself was detained for seven years at Terre Haut Penitentiary, Indiana. He was released the same day as Mike Tyson. "I had," he observes mildly, "been continuously in prison for the last six-and-a-half years for transporting beneficial herbs from one place to another, while he had done three years for rape." Truly there is no justice; but there are eye-popping adventures, hilarious touches and a thorough-going wisdom in this excellent book. --Adam Roberts

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Tall tales from a dubious role model - Rated
Howard Marks has produced an implausible and glamorised account of the sordid world of drug-dealing and smuggling. By attempting to present this disgusting trade as humorous, he encourages gullible young people to admire those who engage in it. He portrays himself as an idealist distributing 'beneficial herbs'. It is more likely, in reality, that he exploited the weaknesses of others from selfish mercenary motives. An unrealistic and potentially harmful book.

El Fantastico!!! - Rated
I recently stumbled upon this autobiography and was immediately drawn to it having previously heard of Howard Marks' exploits from friends and i must say what a fantastic read.

The story basically follows Marks' involvement with hashish and weed and his eventual involvement with global smuggling through the 70's and 80's. The authors ability to depict the wonderful characters that he meets and deals with, included my personal favourite, ex-IRA Jim McCann, means that I found this book impossible to put down. Whilst this book obviously is attractive to the liberal minded amongst us, this book can be thoroughly enjoyed by anyone as Marks' comes across as a thoroughly likeable oxford "chap" who simply lives out a glamarous life that many of us would certainly follow if had the chance. At no point do you genuinely feel that Marks is a mastermind criminal and all i can say is good on you son for pulling one over on the power that be. Fantastic!

Love it! - Rated
He's a devil but i don't know after reading his real story, i like his humanity!

Extraordinary, controversial character. - Rated
From the start this book grabs your attention.Howard Marks tells a fascinating tale about his life starting from when he went to university in oxford to becoming an international dope smuggler.
He comes across as a nice friendly human being, so you don't put him in the same category as an evil crack peddler for example.His intelligence and memory for detail is outstanding but not boring.You have to have a good memory yourself for names and places to keep up with whats going on and hang on to the fast moving narrative.Highly recommended...weather you smoke or not.

Highly Entertaining - Rated
This highly entertaining and often funny autobiography is exciting and full of interesting characters,my favorite being Jim McCann the mad IRA man.
The book is also very revealing about how major drug smuggling operations are carried out and how the CIA and other such organisations operate.
Despite being a major drug smuggler Howard is probably the most honest and trustworthy character in the book and he is very likeable.
My only criticism is that the book is so fast paced and involved so many people and deals that I often got confused as to who was who.